Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

'Anthony, my prayers are with you . Be well." Two Races, One State I am a huge motorcycle racing fan fro m and Ohio, es pecia lly mo tocross Super bike. I was deeply disappointed when I learned the Kenworthy 's Pro Na tional and the Mid-Oh io Supe rbike race would be held on the same weeke nd. What? Tha t mea ns the two biggest motorcycle races of the summer are being held on the same weekend? I have never missed a Pro MX National at Kenworthy's (all 16 of them), and in the last seven or eight years I missed only one or two AMA Super bike races at Mid-Ohio. I always camp out fo r the weekend at Kenworthy's, and last year I camped for the entire weekend at Mid-O hio and planned to do so this year. I guess the AMA assumed that nobody cou ld possibly be fans of both kinds of racing. These two race s have become highlig hts of my summe r, but I guess this year I will have to choose only one of the two. Many of my friends are in the same situation. By the way, I own a 2004 450 Honda and a 200 I RC5 I - so, yes, I do ride both kinds of riding. I just cannot explain how disappointed this makes me . Hey, AMA Pro Racing, you say that you run a "fo r-profit" o rganization, not nonprofit - so how about helping yourse lf out and not holding these races on the same weekend again. Joey Bollinger Mor ion,OH Russ Collins. It was great to see him recognized as a pioneer, because he tru ly is. As a young man I was lucky e nough to work for Russ. I spent five years with him between 1979 and 1985. As I read through the article remi niscing, it sparked some memories I though t reade rs would en joy. What you don't see under the body work of the Sorcerer is that it used a single auto motive blower. For it to work, the intake manifolds had to face each other. That meant that the output shafts we re on opposite sides. To make matters worse, the rear mot or needed to run in reverse so that the output shafts would rotate in the same direc tion. Crankshaft balancing, firing order and aligning two drives all had to be ove rcome before it would even put powe r to the rear wheel. I had the unique experience of sitting on the Sorcerer wit h the motor running. That alone was enough to humb le this young man. I cou ldn't eve n imagine piloting it to almost 200 mph in a quarter mile. Between the top of the frame and the mot or was a pad made from bulletpro of vest materi al. Russ explained that on on e run the blower had ex ploded , se nding it stra ight up and into his chest! It almost threw him off the bike and left some pret- letters10 theeditor should be sent to Voices, Cr.cle News, PO Box 5084, CostaMeso, CA92628-5084; faxed to 7 14·751-6685 Of emai ed to editar@cyclenews.cam. Pub lished letters do nol necessarily reRecllhe position of Cycle News, In lenen shou not exceed 200 c. ld words, and all ore subject to editing. Ano nymous lette will nol be considered for publication. rs All letters shouldcontain thewriter's name, addressand daytime phone number... E ditor. Russ kept tw o things in his office that always caused co nversation. On e was the leathe rs that the emergency crew cut off him after his horr ific crash in Akro n, the ot he r was the mzot or fro m the AT&S (also know as the triple). He had added a glass top and made it into a coffee table. I asked him why one time ; ve ry casually he responded, "to remember." I saw Russ some years ago afte r he had had bypass surgery. It had only bee n 10 days, and he was already at the shop work ing, happy to show me the tools and equipment he had created to support his new aut om o tive venture. Thanks so much for the opportu nity to honor Russ, a fierce co mpe tito r, a pioneer and a really good guy. John "Sharkbait" Geiger Orange, CA Collins Fan II O fte n the pioneers of the sport are forgott en. My mother (Vicki Farr) was the pioneer of NH RA female Pro Stock riders. Mr. Collins was o ne of her sponsors. So the pioneers of motorcycle racing are close to my heart. Thanks for publishing this story - it was a great walk dow n memory lane. Trod Farr long enough to keep things rolling. T he accounts of his behavior off-track are w hat really tainted my opinion of him. It was obvious that his priorities were out of order. How many riders have bee n suspended from an AMA race due to a "hot" result from drug tes ting? However, once I took in everything that Anthony had to say, my feelings about him changed. It sounds like he knows that he's hit rock bottom. He has rea lized the amou nt of his loss and w hat the true cost of his alcohol and drug abuse is. Instead of letti ng the problem get worse, o r wallowing abo ut in self pity, he's doing something about it. His e ntry into the rehabi litation program , under his own volition, is the right move . He has set a goal, a high goal, to eventually get back into the game . He could have quiet ly done all this, and we would have been none the wiser. Instead , he decided to con tact all of us, the fans of motorcycle racing, through your public forum , and apologize. He even went so far as to hope that ot hers might use him as an example to avoid the traps of substance abuse . This type of baring-of-the-soul takes true courage, and I believe that he was sincere. We are privileged to have so many fine, professional and personable via the Internet This Will Fix It I have come up with the perfect choice for the ven ue to hold the pro pose d U.S. ro und of MotoGP - "BarbSecaPoint." This track has all the wonderful things that the racers, promote rs and fans wou ld wa nt. All you have to do is take the safety aspects, the muse um, and vision of Mr. Barber from his track . Take the location, internati onal fame, and wea ther of Laguna Seca. Then get the concessions, fan seating locati o ns, and mana gement from Sears Point, and all our problems are solved . Ca n't wait - let's get going, folks, before Ch ina ste ps up and gets ou r round. Bill Murphy Santa Clara, CA Collins Fan With a huge smile on my face I op en ed the June 2nd issue and saw the article on ty seve re bruises . The vest was installed as a small measure of protect ion . Because the front tire typically never touched the groun d during a pass, it was imperative that the wheelie bars were perfectly straight. If they w ere off just slightly, he would veer into the wall or worse, into the competitor 's lane . I saw him hit the wa ll midway at maybe 125 mph once. To say that the So rce re r was a handful to ride is an understatement. Response To Gobert Apology I just finished reading Anthony Gobert's lengthy letter in the June 2nd issue. To be ho nest, I've never bee n a big fan of his. Wh ile it' s hard to argue that he has a God -given tale nt to ride, and he's pulled off some remarkable moves on tracks here and abroa d, he has lacked co nsistency and was never able to stay with a team www.cyclenews.com me n with in the ranks of AMA roa d racing - the DuHamel s, Haydens , Bostrom s, Chandle rs, DiSalvos, etc. These are the guys I pay my money to see live at the track. I now look forw ard to the day when Anthony Gobert is back among the m. Anthony, my prayers are with you. Be wel l. Mark Peffer Butler, PA CYCLE NEWS • JUNE 16,2004 5

• Cover